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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265205">Home for the Holiday</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insert_cool_username/pseuds/Insert_cool_username'>Insert_cool_username</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Byler Holiday Bash 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>But it’s fluffy???, Cleaning, M/M, Secret Relationship, i still don’t know how to tag, kinda angsty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:47:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insert_cool_username/pseuds/Insert_cool_username</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Will comes and spends the holidays with Mike. This is yet another bad summary.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Byers/Mike Wheeler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Byler Holiday Bash 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060505</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home for the Holiday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have finally finished the challenge! This one is double the word count of any of the other ones because the original part is something I wrote awhile ago.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mike hates the secrecy and stress. Before Will moved they could hold hands under the table or in the darkness of the movie theater, discreetly flirt when they were at the arcade, and kiss during sleepovers together. But now it’s too risky to say anything over the phone, and Mike was terrified of his father reading his letters. He is scared of someone seeing the notes or the photos or the journal entries. Mike hopes his mom doesn’t notice his small collection of Will’s clothes that he never washes, so they still sorta smell like him. Since they haven’t seen each other in basically a year they don’t really anymore, and his mom never comes in his room anyway because “it’s too messy” and “it looks like a bomb went off”. But he’s going to get to see him. In just a few hours, he can’t sleep out of excitement -or nerves-. He holds Will’s sweater closer. Mike looks down at the picture in his hands: Will kissing Mike on the cheek and laughing. He remembers how happy he felt. This had been taken just a few weeks after they started dating, they had stolen Nancy’s polaroid camera and taken this picture. He turns on the mixtape he gave him before they left, and the music slowly washes over him. 2:37am, 10 hours and 23 minutes till he gets to see Will. He gets up and puts the photo in between the pages of Jane Eyre, and puts the book back on the shelf. Mike stuffs the sweater under the bed and takes out the mixtape which he puts in his bedside table drawer. He lays back down. Tomorrow night he’ll be able to lay here with Will for the first time in about a year. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blinks at the clock reading 10:24. 2 hours and 36 minutes. He walks downstairs to where his mom is baking. He silently makes toast. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Disrupting the silence his mom says, “What do you want me to get at the grocery store?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mac n cheese maybe?” He sleepily replies remembering how much Will likes his mom’s Mac n Cheese. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where will Will be sleeping?” His mom asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The correct and accurate answer is next to him in his bed, but for obvious reasons he says, “In his sleeping bag next to the bed like always.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well not actually like always because they normally sleep in the basement, but it was really cold down there, so it doesn’t seem very smart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He eats his breakfast in silence for the most part.  He runs back upstairs where he spends entirely too long picking out his clothes. He finally settles on a pair of jeans and green sweater suitable for the cold December day. He straightens his room for the first time in a long long time. He knows that Will doesn’t care, but it still feels like he should. Making his bed, putting away his pencils and pens, putting some of his books back on the shelf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stops and pulls out another photo of him and Will, they were younger in this one, the night at the mall, Lucas and Max took one, and not wanting to look awkward they took some. This was before they started dating, but Mike knows he almost kissed Will that night. Strangely this is one of his favorites, they just look so happy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He continues with his cleaning, putting some of his clothes back into the drawers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>11:49, one hour and 11 minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He goes down to the basement, and starts cleaning. They haven’t played D&amp;d since the last time they were all together which was over a year and a half ago, and Mike has been procrastinating putting away. Maybe they could play again this week, the four of them. He looks in the hall mirror and messes with his hair again. He goes upstairs and starts reading his book, but mostly just stares at the pages. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>12:14, 46 minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>12:38, 22 minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>12:47, 14 minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>12:58, 2 minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Will is borrowing his Mom’s car to drive here, and that car is not fast. So he knows that Will will probably be a few minutes late, but Mike can’t deal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giving up on his book, he takes out the mixtape from the drawer and turns it on. He remembers listening to it the first time after Will left, tears streaming down his face. It had been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>friendly platonic </span>
  </em>
  <span>parting gift, but to 13 year old Mike it meant more than El giving him a kiss and un-breaking-up-with him. 14 year old Mike was a very confused being.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>1:04, plus four minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally hears the car pull into the driveway. He runs down the stairs and shoves his shoes half on. He yanks open the door and sees Will getting out  of the car. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike runs forward and hugs him. Will is here! He can’t believe it. He doesn’t know if he’s ever been this excited in his life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Will gets out the car wearing a red holiday sweater, jeans, and a Jean jacket that Mike had given him the previous year. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Will beams and throws his arms around Mike. Mike hugs back with a smile just as large. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They pull apart as his mom walks out not wanting her to get suspicious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Will,” she says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brightly he says,“Hi, Mrs. Wheeler.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you need me to carry your bag inside?” She asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Will replies respectfully, “No, thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walks over and pops the trunk and takes out his bag. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike pulls him upstairs and into his room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Will looks surprised because he cleaned his room. Which makes sense because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>cleans his room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mike, did you actually clean your room?” He asks laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike looks at the floor, blushes, and then replies, “Yeah, yeah, I did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know you really didn’t have to,” Will tells him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike says, “I know, but I wanted to.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike hugs Will again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Will asks, “Can I kiss you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike nods and kisses him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They pull away smiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mike smiles and says, “I’m glad you came home for the holidays!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, me too,” Will agrees. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Since I finished the challenge, I will try to to finish All in One Night which I haven’t finished because instead of writing it, I have written a bunch of other stuff. Thank you to everybody who read and left kudos on my writing. It means a lot to know that people enjoy my writing and it really makes my day! Thank you for reading! -m</p></blockquote></div></div>
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